We finally received an answer to Jet’s (RIP) (my personal favorite moment in their illustrious history) 2003 single “Are You Gonna Be My Girl.” The smart answer is in the form of this understated single from similarly named, drastically dissimilar musically: Wet’s “Don’t Wanna Be Your Girl.” Playing with silence, gentle synths and astounding vocals in a way that James Blake’s eponymous debut album was praised for, Wet’s EP is one of my favorites to be released recently.

The cover of Wet’s EP is a deformed rock in the shape of a face in its hands, a shiny, unfeeling sculpture. The symbolism for Wet is the way these songs feel formed in-time, as lead singer Kelly Zutrau weaves a story throughout, much like a sculptor slowly feels out an unmolded piece of clay into a less unmolded piece of clay. Wet’s EP was released on October 15, and can be streamed (and bought) on their Bandcamp page.

A spiraling downwards. It’s something we have all, at some point, felt. That moment you know you have made a huge mistake, or (you self-assuringly tell yourself) someone else has at your expense. Felt the stomach implode and the brain go numb, but we have never really heard it the way BANKS guides us through that moment. Hushed enough, but brimming with enough teeth-gritted confidence we hear BANKS defiant stance through filtered vocals. BANKS pitch on “This Is What It Feels Like” shakes like one teetering on the edge of bursting with anger and sadness. Synths swarm around her escalating the tension as BANKS ushers in the chorus. The magnitude of these swelling emotions accurately depicted in BANKS new video, seen below, as a lonely BANKS revels in the storm ravaging outside.

Thanks to this video, all I wanted to do this week while I had finals was party my face off and take whiskey shots. Krewella had a huge commercial breakthrough last year with their Play Hard EP, and has captured the hearts of the American electronic scene with their live performances. Their new album Get Wet is set to release on September 24th, and if the single “Live for the Night” is a sign of what’s to come we can expect their first full length album to packed with bass-heavy bangers. (more…)

When I was little, my older sisters told me that the move Mario does when he reaches the top of a beanstalk in Heaven and can climb no further is called “the Mario dance.” It involves him rapidly shaking his arms and legs up and down while staying in one place. He should be climbing or falling, but he’s somehow stationary despite his spasms. My siblings and I would act this out ourselves while the current player did it onscreen, then jumped off to go collect coins. This is what it felt like being in the Crystal Castles crowd: Trippy. Sporadic yet rhythmic. Nirvanic.

Alice Glass and Ethan Kath (whose very names are rhyme-licious and fun to say out loud — go ahead, try it) sculpt clouds when they perform together. Surely gypsies in their former lives who hypnotized their way to the top, their entrance alone was entrancing. Wearing mist across their shoulders, they stole my mind in the same fashion that Ursula’s vaporous fingers syringe Ariel’s voice from her throat. They didn’t just close Saturday night at the TuneIn Stage, they shredded it with a thousand lightsabers. I swear I was carried home after Bumbershoot’s first day on a magic carpet, smiling like a deranged cat. And I was sober! Catch their experience live if you get the chance. Everyone should have such ear orgasms.

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Words by AJ Dent

Photos by David Endicott

When someone looks you in the eye and says a certain act will be one of the most exciting of a three-day weekend, you listen. This is the influence under which I caught !!!, and sure enough, they wound up on my chk-list (sorry, couldn’t resist) of Bumbershoot’s greatest groups. Nic Offer was off-the-wall as ever, shaking his ass, staring down, and sing-screaming at each one of us. The high of 2012’s Thr!!!er seemed an updraft beneath the artists, lifting them to laugh-out-loud antics and inspiring delight all over their faces. I’d originally been a bit bummed they weren’t playing at night, but being Sacramento-sprung, they jived with the daylight like lifelong lovers. If you ever attend one of their shows and don’t dance, you have no soul. It’s that simple. For the rest of us, may this defibrillator of a band live forever.

Seattle favorites The Physics absolutely devoured the Fountain Stage with their set. Of course, after fifteen years of Thig, Monk, and Justo making funk together, it was inevitable. Shout-outs of lyrics highlighting local areas could be heard by pockets of the audience throughout the show, but what made this a Saturday standout was all the grooving. There wasn’t a single down moment thanks to the backup singers backin’ it up, the crowd clapping along, and the rhymemasters themselves coordinating shuffle-jigs. With the sun splattering through the bandshell, they made use of every inch of the stage and proved why they still have staying power. As if it was ever in doubt.

Gary Numan

“So… what is he?” a young concertgoer I’d never met before asked me as workers prepped the TuneIn Stage for Mr. Numan. This twenty-something had seen my press pass and approached me for details, figuring I’d know what’s up. The fact she dropped “what” rather than “who” about him says a lot. Maybe it’s his Numanoids fanbase of old, or his positive atheist rep, or his impact on new wave noise, or his faux-cameo via Stewie singing on Family Guy. All I know is, several of my friends told me I had to catch this electronica original, and I was highly, highly entertained. There’s just something about legendary British gents that render me unable to look away. My guess is, ya know, the decades of sex, drugs, and rock ‘n roll ingrained in their very aura. Which is why my answer to the young Bumbershooter beside me that evening was a simple, “Just watch.”

With hair like a frosty waterfall, Katie Kate commanded my complete attention in the second performance of hers I’ve had the fortune of catching. Sasquatch 2012 saw this ball of spunk, but that show felt quite different from her spot at Bumbershoot. She seemed more comfortable this time around, both with her bombastic raps and her interaction with the audience. “If you’re wondering where all these beats came from, I made ‘em,” she dead-panned at one point, creating cheers. Whitney Petty of The Grizzled Mighty — another Seattle act gaining speed — and I spotted one another in the crowd, and momentarily danced together to this punky pixie’s flows. “Shit’s about to get real real,” Katie Kate later laughed before busting out 2012’s “Zombie.” Before any of us knew what was happening, people dressed up for Bumbershoot’s Zombie Walk trudge-danced onto the stage. “If you see a zombie, fucking kill it!” she called out, and proceeded to run around kicking some undead ass. It was the perfect example of her confidence and coolness in the city that adores her. With her unique utterances on the mic and instrument intelligence in the mixing room, she’s set to explode across the whole country. Watch out for her.

Matt Pond

If I could choose my ideal setting in which to hear Matt Pond play, it would definitely be atop a frozen lake, him in winter boots with the audience ice-skating all around. I really bet spouts of visible breath and twinkles of snow would complement well his heart-driven guitar-strumming. Bumbershoot’s not half bad either, though. All the sweethearts that’d congregated in front of the Plaza Stage were in for a treat (probably back at home after the show, too). This New England-based artist and collaboration guru emitted warm melodies just right for a Sunday night beneath the Space Needle. “Let Me Live” seemed an especially content mantra, as if each band member knew they were in the precise right place at the right time right then. I think the spectators felt the same way, too.

There’s not much better in this world than soaking up a clean-cut banjo breakdown with thousands of other music lovers on a hot summer day. The instant I’d found myself within range of Thao’s matter-of-fact singing voice, I’d ran across the grass to get closer, and for good reason. It’s always striking to see someone live out their lifelong passion, and this was no exception. Thao commanded the crowd like a (friendly) boss, making waves of head-bobbing and in-place-jumping ripple out from the Fountain Stage. With We the Common out in February of this year, the band’s momentum has become magnetic, and their sun-infused Bumbershoot show only proved that it’s well-earned.

A Two Door Cinema Club track produced by all-star electronic artist Madeon? Obviously this is going to be a winning combination. Their new single is titled “Changing of the Seasons,” and the Irish trio recently released the official music video in preparation for an EP of the same name scheduled to release on September 30th. (more…)

Damn it, Kendrick. I hate how much your performance made me love you. Multiple people told me throughout the rest of the weekend that KL delivered their favorite set, and while I don’t grant him that honor, I can’t really blame those who do. He had one big platform almost entirely to himself, one very early timeslot (due to tight tour booking), and one helluva stage presence that kept us all hooked. The command “If you a bad bitch, put your hands up high,” clearly convinced every person on the floor to take on this newfound identity, because arm-raising is precisely what they did. Control? Yeah. He brought it.